How Young is to Young?

[COKX]

I'm looking to start my little girl on a bike. I have not even looked for the bike yet as I feel she / we have time. I wanted to start her on a quad but the wife said no. She (the wife) wants he on a bike.

My little girl is 2 and a half

She is almost 3 foot tall

Smart as all get out ( started school at 2) Not my bias opinion

The kid just loves my KX250F KX125 and the wifes TT-R125

She can now name most parts of a bike

Knows how to start them (although to small to do it)

(ok enough braggin lol)

So my question is this. If I was to pick up a small bike with the training wheels

when should I let her start riding it in the driveway?

How Young is to young??????????????

[657pinkKTM]

CRF50 with training wheels

[N7SLC]

I dunno how they do things in Colorado but here in Utah kids have to be

8-yrs of age and pass a riding/written test to get a certification to ride on

public lands. Considering the lack of private rding areas near my place, I

waited to get my girl a bike.

Here she is at Christmas. We're going to be doing a lot of riding this year!

[sarge1991]

As soon as the kid turns 6 months, get the child on a bike. The sooner the better! HaHa Jk, I would judge the ability to ride on the kids awareness to situations, make decisions and strong/smart enough to pick up and handle the given bike.

[yamirider5588]

IMHO ... when they are able to ride a bike w/o training wheels then they are ready for an engine . I have friends that have started their's younger , but , to each his own .

[Honda_Racer19]

At my local track the minimum age for ANY rider on a bike or quad with a motor is 4

[COKX]

Thats what I thought . I should wait for another year at the very least.

[yzfrider1]

IMHO ... when they are able to ride a bike w/o training wheels then they are ready for an engine . I have friends that have started their's younger , but , to each his own .

plus one ?

[clamber]

I'm looking to start my little girl on a bike. I have not even looked for the bike yet as I feel she / we have time. I wanted to start her on a quad but the wife said no. She (the wife) wants he on a bike.

My little girl is 2 and a half

She is almost 3 foot tall

Smart as all get out ( started school at 2) Not my bias opinion

The kid just loves my KX250F KX125 and the wifes TT-R125

She can now name most parts of a bike

Knows how to start them (although to small to do it)

(ok enough braggin lol)

So my question is this. If I was to pick up a small bike with the training wheels

when should I let her start riding it in the driveway?

How Young is to young??????????????

Get her a PW50 with some training wheels.

I dunno how they do things in Colorado but here in Utah kids have to be

8-yrs of age and pass a riding/written test to get a certification to ride on

public lands. Considering the lack of private rding areas near my place, I

waited to get my girl a bike.

Here she is at Christmas. We're going to be doing a lot of riding this year!

Im in utah and Ive enver done that. When did they make that? Im 16 and never heard of it.

[stezlaki]

Get a Yamaha PW 50 or a Suzuki JR 50 for the first bike, whenever you get one. They are smaller and lighter than the CRF. You will eventually want to take the training wheels off and the CRF is kinda tall/heavy when you do..........hell, they're all heavy when you think about it compared to the kids weight.

As far as being able to ride a bicycle w/o training wheels first, we didn't go that route with my son. But then again, we didn't live in a subdivision where it's easy to learn to balance on the concrete and asphalt............lot harder to balance and keep up momentum in the sand! He was doing pretty good on a JR50 w/o training wheels before he could ride his bicycle. I can see the argument for doing it the other way around, but there were no ill effects in our case.

Where in CO are you?

[Ttoks]

i started at age two on a pw 50 without training wheels, to start with dad would just run behind the bike holding onto it so i wouldn't fall over, then out of no where he let go, we have it on film and i didn't even notes until i turned around to see if he was there and i crashed, then did it again with him holding on then he let go again and i kept riding, took me a whole day to learn to ride a PW50 at two with no training wheels, i say go for it and see how she go's.

[doggerdan1]

I think at a very young age (perhaps 7 or under) a child's bones may be too soft and under developed to cope with the jarring and compressions of the spine that comes with riding off-road or MX, and could ultimately lead to problems later in life. I might be totally wrong, these are my thoughts and opinions only. I'd talk to your pediatrician and see what he or she thinks, you could be doing your daughter a disservice by starting her to early. Just a thought.

[Ttoks]

by 7, i was racing a KX 60, at that age the bones are softer, but instead of snapping like an adults bones (think a dry stick) they crack (think of breaking a fresh stick), sort of like cold brittle steel vs hot workable steel, which heal faster and are less likely to cause permanent damage.

kids bones don't start to really develop until they're 12-13.

[Bjarko Polo]

I've got three kids.

Marc started on his fourth birthday, when he got a PW50, Hjalte at his second birthday, when Marc gave the PW50 to him.

Sarah is only just one year of age, but she got her first Jeremy Mcgrath pyjamas at six month, and she loves it when the big 450s blaze by.

My point: Safety first otherwise there is no "too young".

We buy all the safety gear there is, and take great care to keep the kids out of trouble.

And then it is just a great way to come together as a family.

We allways go to the track all of us, and our family summer holliday is camping out at the motocross training camp.

Only trouble is the money and the hours involved in being team boss, team mechanic and main sponsor...

Can't say I get much riding done these days... but man is it worth it.

[COKX]

Where in CO are you?

I live in Canon City.

I work everywhere. I'm i n Durango now and about to go to Meeker in a few weeks. So I guess I should say The wife and Kid live in Canon City I live where ever I parkmy Toy Hauler.

All good points from everyone I will have to have the wife read this

Keep them comming please.

[Veccster]

I hear you Cokx, I have a 3 month old and am already getting anxious to get her on a bike. I have it in my mind to wait until she is about 4. Until that time, I plan to get her dirt bike related toys (lego bikes, miniature bikes, electric bikes, etc). As was mentioned before, if you start them too early and they hurt themselves, they will not want to mount the bike again.

My neighbor tried to start his daughter on a bike. Said he would never, ever let her on the bike without all the gear. She wanted to ride around the their small yard, he let her, she fell and burned her leg on the exhaust (wearing shorts) and won't get back on it. He had to sell it.

I also plan to get her into bicycles very early and would not uncork the bike or remove the training wheels until she can ride her bicycle. I think that is important.

Finally, like yourself, I plan to teach her bike parts, basics of riding, importance of wrenching, importance of gear, etc.

And yes, my 3 month old already has dirt bike outfits and bibs.

[Hit_the_set]

My boy is 3.5 years old and he got his bike for christmas from my inlaws!! I wasn't going to get him a bike untill he could ride his pedal bike with out training wheels but they pulled the trigger 1st. He does really well on it. It'll be a long time untill we can take on the training wheels due to his short legs. He loves it and rides well.

[team crash]

I have a crf 50 that my 6 year old will ride at the track this year, he has been on that bike in the yard since he was 4. Now my 4 year old started riding it last summer (after he could ride his bike without training wheels) I do have training wheels for the 50, but I wanted them to ride without them. So he took to it well, but when he does fall he has a hard time picking up the crf. When he is on a pw50 (a friends bike) he is able to pick it up and seems to control the bike better. I would go with the pw or jr50, the seat is a little lower and the bike is a little lighter. I myself am picking up a pw for my 4 year old in the next month.

[ajd187]

Only you really know the answer to this as you know your kid best.

I've seen kids start at age 9 and end up clearing 30 foot doubles by age 11. If you start a kid at 4 or 5 I imagine they'd be insanely fast by 11.

[COKX]

Only you really know the answer to this as you know your kid best.

I see your point but I also know I will rush into it.

Nice Pics there Hit The Seat.